macOS 10.14.4 Beta Includes Touch ID Safari AutoFill Feature

[coolfactor]

Why can't I use Touch ID from my iPhone 7+ to validate a purchase on my MBP? And I thought Apple was killing off Touch ID.

Touch ID is not outdated technology. It's just a different, secure way to authenticate. They are phasing it out on their phones in order to have an "all screen" experience. Macs are different devices. Hands are on the keyboards all the time, so Touch ID is reasonable there.

But that said, I think Face ID on Macs makes perfect sense, until people start getting paranoid and taping over the camera area.
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I just want a way to turn off Safari auto-generating passwords when I register for things!

Why? If you're set up properly, that generated password gets stored into iCloud Keychain, and you never need to worry about it again. It's magically available on all of your Apple devices. Grab your phone and you can log into that same website without knowing the password. The days of users choosing their own passwords is behind us.

And you do have control over this new feature. It's entirely optional.

 

[Shirasaki]

Why? If you're set up properly, that generated password gets stored into iCloud Keychain, and you never need to worry about it again. It's magically available on all of your Apple devices. Grab your phone and you can log into that same website without knowing the password. The days of users choosing their own passwords is behind us.

And you do have control over this new feature. It's entirely optional.

With billions of windows device out there, I still prefer choosing my own password over safari suggested ones. Heck, I am still struggling to type my Adobe account password generated by safari. Not to mention the AutoFill is still pretty limited, especially when app wants you to fill the password, you still need to type it.
Maybe one day we will no longer need to use any password at all, but that day won’t come anytime soon.

 

[57004]

I feel like they could incorporate it into the power button on the iMac.

That's not very handy because it's on the back on all desktop Macs. Very hard to reach.

But I'll never use this anyway unless they make it cross platform. I have computers and devices with every major OS under the sun
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With billions of windows device out there, I still prefer choosing my own password over safari suggested ones. Heck, I am still struggling to type my Adobe account password generated by safari. Not to mention the AutoFill is still pretty limited, especially when app wants you to fill the password, you still need to type it.
Maybe one day we will no longer need to use any password at all, but that day won’t come anytime soon.

I don't know... Webauthn is getting there pretty rapidly now. And things like this prove that the password really has to be retired sooner rather than later.
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TouchID won't be added without a Secure Enclave processor AKA a T2 chip (or newer). That would effectively make such a device a rather powerful keyboard. It would also be expensive and likely cause battery life and heat issues. I think you're far more likely to see FaceID included in a future iMac release, so that way all of the hardware can be embedded in the computer rather than a peripheral.

A secure enclave doesn't have to cost that much. T2 is only that expensive because it does a lot more than just being a secure enclave.

A basic smartcard costs 5-10$ and contains a secure enclave.

 

[JosephAW]

With billions of windows device out there, I still prefer choosing my own password over safari suggested ones. Heck, I am still struggling to type my Adobe account password generated by safari. Not to mention the AutoFill is still pretty limited, especially when app wants you to fill the password, you still need to type it.
Maybe one day we will no longer need to use any password at all, but that day won’t come anytime soon.

Plus if someone figure out the rand seed generator for Safari they might be able to recreate them.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Touch ID is not outdated technology. It's just a different, secure way to authenticate. They are phasing it out on their phones in order to have an "all screen" experience. Macs are different devices. Hands are on the keyboards all the time, so Touch ID is reasonable there.

But that said, I think Face ID on Macs makes perfect sense, until people start getting paranoid and taping over the camera area.

What do you mean "until"? I'd say 60% of the iMac and MacBook cameras I see are taped over now, which is lower than the percentage of PC laptop cameras I see taped, that's nearly 100%. But that Mac percentage would quickly jump to 90% if there was an always-on camera.

I'm surprised it's not happened on the iPhones more, people seem to treat the phone differently than the computer.

And it's a terrible idea on the computer. Think about what a bit of malicious code could do with Face ID and your credit card. No need to convince you to send the Nigerian prince money, just look at your screen and it's already gone. Touch ID at least requires something intentional, with Face ID you just have to look at it, and the code can fake the clicks through whatever "Yes, I meant that" dialog pops up.

 

[eeboarder]

Love the Touch ID on my MBP. I’ll be looking forward to this.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Touch ID on a keyboard would be great for the tens of millions of existing Macs already in the wild.

So would just putting your finger on any iOS device plugged into your Mac. There’s a fingerprint scanner right there on every device. Hell you shouldn’t even need to plug it in. Same way Apple uses two factor authentication to confirm on your other devices you’re logged into that you’re about to do something major, your Mac could just as well push a signal to your iOS devices to get ready for a fingerprint (or face, if you have one of these things) and you simply perform your monkey dance for it, satisfy iOS, and iOS relays its satisfaction to the requesting Mac, and there you have it. No complicated keyboards, no redesigning the iMac with more costly hardware in it, just cheap and easily implemented platform-wide.

 

[Emanuel Rodriguez]

So would just putting your finger on any iOS device plugged into your Mac. There’s a fingerprint scanner right there on every device. Hell you shouldn’t even need to plug it in. Same way Apple uses two factor authentication to confirm on your other devices you’re logged into that you’re about to do something major, your Mac could just as well push a signal to your iOS devices to get ready for a fingerprint (or face, if you have one of these things) and you simply perform your monkey dance for it, satisfy iOS, and iOS relays its satisfaction to the requesting Mac, and there you have it. No complicated keyboards, no redesigning the iMac with more costly hardware in it, just cheap and easily implemented platform-wide.

Okay then, I'll just make a simple device which sends an identical "I'm satisfied" message, and lets me into your MacBook Pro.

The security implications of such a technology would be highly significant. Not impossible to implement, but it most definitely adds a huge, obvious target for hackers. I wouldn't even tempt that sort of fate, personally.

 

[truthertech]

So would just putting your finger on any iOS device plugged into your Mac. There’s a fingerprint scanner right there on every device. Hell you shouldn’t even need to plug it in. Same way Apple uses two factor authentication to confirm on your other devices you’re logged into that you’re about to do something major, your Mac could just as well push a signal to your iOS devices to get ready for a fingerprint (or face, if you have one of these things) and you simply perform your monkey dance for it, satisfy iOS, and iOS relays its satisfaction to the requesting Mac, and there you have it. No complicated keyboards, no redesigning the iMac with more costly hardware in it, just cheap and easily implemented platform-wide.

While I assume your solution is technically feasible, and indeed I think it's already done for some web purchases authentication isn't it? I think you're missing a key aspect of Apple's magic with authentication- simplicity and convenience.

When I sit down to my iMac ,I often don't have my iPhone with me, so your solution would be very inconvenient to always have to have your iOS device with your Mac (and not feasible for people, undoubtedly a minority, of Mac owners who don't have an iOS device). Folks also don't want to have to reach for their iOS device when they need to authenticate their ID; they simply want to move their finger over to that Touch ID sensor on a keyboard. Face ID is wonderful because you don't have to think about it, but in the meantime, Touch ID on a keyboard would be a huge hit. And if Apple would couple it with backlit keys, it would sell bigly.

 

[RichardC300]

Why? If you're set up properly, that generated password gets stored into iCloud Keychain, and you never need to worry about it again. It's magically available on all of your Apple devices. Grab your phone and you can log into that same website without knowing the password. The days of users choosing their own passwords is behind us.

And you do have control over this new feature. It's entirely optional.

You have a point there, but for the moment, I still prefer choosing my own passwords. Also, to turn it off, it requires you to turn off auto-filling usernames/passwords completely, whereas I just won't the auto-generating feature to stop popping up every time I register for something.

 

[AppleMad98004]

Not quite sure of the security or cost ramifications, but would love to see Touch ID added to their desktop keyboard. Face ID built into an iMac would be great, but a keyboard solution could bring new technology to an older computer.

Older computers don't have the T1/2 chips to support the secure enclave technology.

 

[lederermc]

I thought it was all about Facial Recognition now? I love Touch ID so fast one of the reasons I won’t give up my iPhone 6s.

I think there is space for Apple to sell both Face and Touch-ID. Regardless, I do "love" my Face-ID iPhoneX* a bit more than I loved my iPhone6s.

 

[gnomeisland]

Well, to be fair Face ID isn’t possible with just a webcam. It requires a specialized infra-red sensor.

If it was camera based, it would be easy to fool it with a photo.

My understanding is that Windows Hello does something similar. I don’t know. I’m just guessing based on Apples reticence and the convoluted patent situation. Microsoft would need to be building a system to have an enforceable patent.

 

[Reason077]

My understanding is that Windows Hello does something similar. I don’t know. I’m just guessing based on Apples reticence and the convoluted patent situation. Microsoft would need to be building a system to have an enforceable patent.

I think it’s more to do with Apple’s slow progress on the Mac side. It took a few years before Touch ID made it from the iPhone to the Mac. Maybe Face ID will be the same.

 

[gnomeisland]

Well, to be fair Face ID isn’t possible with just a webcam. It requires a specialized infra-red sensor.

If it was camera based, it would be easy to fool it with a photo.

Well aware of that, thanks. That was kind of my point. Microsoft obviously doesn't own patents on webcam in laptops. I was speculating that they might own patent on using IR scanners to verify faces on a laptop since I've been told Windows Hello does that. Again, speculation. If you don't like it, refute it with relevant data or let it go.

The two cogent arguments against FaceID in MacBooks&iMacs that I've heard recently are that the Intel chips just don't have the neural/ML silicon (but the T2 or a similar variant could address that) and that people are (justifiably) paranoid about laptop webcams and rat malware—in other words, FaceID for you laptop could be too effective/frictionless and therefore a liability if someone seized control of computer without you knowing it and started using your face to authorize malicious actions.